Nearly one in three inmates entering Maryland’s prisons is infected with HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus, the Washington Post reports. Prisoners’ infection rates were dramatically higher than the general population’s, based on blood tests of 3,914 people entering the state penal system during a 60-day period last year.

The most prevalent infection in Maryland state prisons was hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus that can cause liver disease, including cancer and cirrhosis, and other serious complications. The problem has major public health implications beyond prison walls because inmates eventually are released into the community, where they can spread the infections.

Maryland inmates are treated for syphilis and HIV, but the prisons do not routinely give hepatitis B vaccinations, which are highly effective, to inmates or staff members.

Corrections officers have sought legislation that would make it easier to collect workers’ compensation for infections acquired on the job, but their efforts have been unsuccessful.

Read Next

“Prescription opioid misuse and use of heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl are intertwined and deeply troubling problems,” says director Tom Frieden of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The heroin-related death total topped the number of gun homicides by 10 cases.

Comments are closed.

TCR AT A GLANCE

The award honors individuals in the media or media-related fields who have advanced national understanding on the 21st century challenges of criminal justice. It will be presented Feb 16, 2017 at a dinner at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

"Prescription opioid misuse and use of heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl are intertwined and deeply troubling problems," says director Tom Frieden of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The heroin-related death total topped the number of gun homicides by 10 cases.

The program aims to identify troubled probationers who aren’t complying with requirements that they remain drug free. It gives them the option of receiving methadone treatment while in jail. Then they are handed off to an outpatient treatment program on their release from jail. It's called a success because four of the original seven participants are still taking part.

Ronald Bert Smith Jr. was pronounced dead at 11:05 p.m. His attorneys asked the Supreme Court to hear the case because a judge had overridden the jury's recommendation that Smith get a life prison term. Four justices voted to delay the execution, but five votes were needed to do so.